India set to be most populous country in a year: UN

New Delhi: On World Population Day on Monday, the United Nations released a report projecting India to surpass China as the world's most populous country next year. It said the world population is forecast to reach eight billion by mid-November 2022. Currently, with 4.7 billion, Asia is the most populous continent and has 61 per cent of the global population,17 per cent reside in Africa (1.3 billion), 10 per cent in Europe (750 million), 8 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean (650 million), and the remaining 5 per cent in Northern America (370 million) and Oceania (43 million).

According to World Population Prospects 2019, China with a 1.44 billion population and India with 1.39 billion are the two most populous countries in the world, representing 19 and 18 per cent of the world's population, respectively. However, by around 2023, India's population will overtake China to become the most populous country with China's population projected to decrease by 31.4 million, or around 2.2 per cent, between 2019 and 2050. The UN forecast also stated, world's population is expected to reach eight billion. That overall population milestone "is a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our planet and a moment to reflect on where we still fall short of our commitments to one another," Secretary General Antonio Guterres said, without citing specifics.

"This is an occasion to celebrate our diversity, recognize our common humanity, and marvel at advancements in health that have extended lifespans and dramatically reduced maternal and child mortality rates," he added.

The forecast by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs said the world's population is growing at its slowest pace since 1950.

It should hit 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050, peaking at around 10.4 billion people in the 2080s before steadying at that level until 2100.

While a net drop in birth rates is observed in several developing countries, more than half of the rise forecast in the world's population in the coming decades will be concentrated in eight countries, the report said. It said they are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania.